Position:Home>History> How did Ronald Reagan expand the power of his office?

I think Reagan was given a lot more leeway- and therefor more power by the general public because Jimmy Carter preceded him!.Carter was widely viewed as an ineffective president who had naive notions about how Washington works!. Reagan had a lot of moxie implementing his policies whether they were domestic or foreign related!. Understand that with Carter's weak leadership America slipped into a recession so Reagan had the "savior appeal"going on as well!.

So I think you can't overlook how Reagan was given license to do nearly whatever he wanted by popular opinion of the press and Congress!. So I think Reagan's leadership is somewhat exaggerated because Carter was in contrast so much weaker as a leader and anyone who took the reigns of the oval office after Carter would have been effective especially in relationship to Carter!.

also, don't forget Nixon and Ford who were before Carter had their hands were tied largely because of the mistrust that was upon them because of the Watergate scandal!. So it was at least 7 years before Reagan that the White House had an effective president!. So that is why Reagan got such a huge welcome mat on the steps of the White House!. I think it is why his "legacy" is so ridiculously over exaggerated! Yes he was an agent of change but when you see for so long the void that was in the White House before him it stands to reason that his leadership would logically be effective and also exaggerated!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Several presidential scholars
have underestimated Ronald Reagan’s power as president due to his
seeming lack of oversight (e!.g!., Neustadt 1990)!. Instead, we argue that
his focus on a few salient issues allowed him to exercise his power
over his staff despite a lack of direct oversight!. Using Franklin
Roosevelt’s presidency as the model of presidential power (Neustadt
1990; Dickinson 2000), we argue that Ronald Reagan, like FDR, was able
to overcome information asymmetries, and therefore exercise power to
similar degree!. In the vein of Miller (1992; 1993) and Bates, et al!.
(1998) we utilize a formal model of presidential power to argue that
Reagan, through his singularity of focus was able to solve the
Principal-Agency problem, and therefore presidential aides and the
bureaucracy acted for the benefit of the president, rather than for
individual gain!. Because Reagan spent most of his political capital
fighting (and ending) the Cold War and instituting “trickle-down”
economics, he was able to capitalize on the political environment that
faced him!. Using the theoretical analysis of contracts, we find
equilibria in Principal-Agent games in which both the principal (the
president) and agents (support staff) achieve increased utility through
the use of simple contracts!. A simple contract, in the context of the
president-staff relations, is an agreement between the president and
his support staff in which the staff agrees to act in accordance to a
broad presidential policy agenda!. The staff is then allowed to use
their discretion on issues outside a president’s broad policy agenda!.
We argue that Reagan found and utilized such simple-contract
equilibria, thus increases utility for Reagan and his staff while
allowing Reagan to maintain a hands-off managerial approach!. By
focusing on a few salient issues in his contracts with staff, he was
able to achieve his policy goals despite a limited role in staff
relations!. Our work adds to the understanding of the presidency in
three ways!. First, it builds from, and expands, earlier work regarding
presidential leadership style and presidential power!. Second, we employ
formal modeling, a tool rarely used in the study of the presidency or
in the understanding of the presidents’ power!. Third, this paper
expands upon previous Principal-Agency work, but applies the theory to
the presidency!. Finally, we offer evidence that the conventional wisdom
of Reagan as a weak leader in the White House deserves rethinking!. We
feel that this work expands the understanding of Reagan’s presidency
and the powers of the presidency more generally!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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